Radiant Blues
by glass0ghost
Summary: When being dragged across the country to meet some girl that he didn't even know, Roxas wished that he had remembered to hold onto everything. Now he was crushing, she was oblivious and everyone else was just amused. How did this happen? AU, RoxasNamine
1. Stunning Blondes

**Hey All. **

**New story, here we go. :)**

**Dedicated to **_roxasXnamine-ftw _**and **_cammehhh_ **for being totally awesome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts at all.**

* * *

The blonde stared back at him, smiling. Her blue eyes were sparkling from behind her thick rimmed glasses and the braces on her teeth made her look slightly nerdy. Beside her, his friend Kairi was grinning, her auburn hair blowing around her face. They were standing in the centre of the sandlot, cheeks pressed together. The picture had been taken at an odd angle and they were tilted. It had been taken a couple of years ago with Sora's amateur photography skills.

His attention was drawn back to the blonde. "_This is Namine. She's been my best friend for the longest time, and she's invited us to stay at her place for the summer! Isn't it great?" _He had not been impressed when Kairi had burst into his work, squealing with excitement about seeing her best friend. Of course, Sora had been extremely happy for her and had gone so far as to actually bounce around the room, holding her hands.

Ever since his cousin had gotten together with one of their best friends, he had been turning into a sap. _"It's what love does to you, Rox." _He had given the brunette a look before walking out of the room for some food. There was no way that he was ever going to turn into some mushy sap when it came to a girl.

The closest he had ever been to a girl, was when he had started eighth grade and had had a major crush on one of the girls in his group, Olette. He had liked her for such a long time, so when she and his best friend, Hayner, got together, he couldn't help it that he had been slightly upset.

Since then, whenever Kairi or Sora tried to set him up with someone, it always ended badly. He recalled the horrible date he had with Selphie, one of Kairi's many, _many_ single female friends. _"She's really nice Rox! You'll love her. You guys are perfect for each other!"_

He had come home nearly deaf in one ear and shaking like a leaf. The brunettete was overbearing, clingy and hyper active. She had practically sat on him for the entire movie and being nice, he had offered to take her for ice cream afterwards. She had complained about a diet and that they tortured animals to get the milk. Roxas had calmly explained that milking a cow was completely normal and harmless. Selphie had looked at him like he was an insane moron, slapped him across the face and walked out as fast as her yellow high heels would allow. He had sworn off dating anyone his friends set him up with ever since.

Roxas ran his thumb over the girl's face in the photograph. Kairi had shown it to him a week before the flight, and had forgotten to take it back. He had never met this girl before, but his friends had insisted and had practically dragged him onto the flight out of Twilight Town. She had moved to Radiant Garden along with her brother before he had transferred into the school.

Kairi assured him that she wouldn't try and set them up, because to put it quite simply, Namine had a boyfriend. He sighed with relief. Thank god they wouldn't try to set him up again. Girl drama was just too much drama. Sora had once thought so too, until he had started dating Kairi. Now he didn't even mind it when he was called whipped. He thought it was an honour.

Pocketing the picture as best he could, he looked out the small round window to his right. It was dark outside the plane, and the glass was cold when his leant his cheek against it. Beside him, his best friend was snoring lightly, his red hair looking like a lion's mane. He smirked. The disaster that was Axel's hair was entirely Sora's fault.

He, Sora and Kairi had arrived at Axel's house around 3am with the spare key, Sora's video camera and a bottle of ice cold water. Knowing what his best friend was like around water, Roxas had passed up the privilege and given it to his cousin instead, deciding to stay safely behind the video camera. The redhead was such a deep sleeper, that the trio didn't even have to be quiet when they entered his house and snuck into his bed room. Making sure the camera was rolling, he had nodded to Kairi, who gave her boyfriend a thumbs-up. Grinning, Sora had unscrewed the lid and spilt the entire bottle onto the sleeping man.

As soon as the water had hit his face, Axel abruptly woken and sat up, spluttering. The blankets and quilts hung off him and his hair was flat against his face. Roxas had to bite his knuckle, stifling a laugh. Beside him Kairi started giggling like mad. His best friend had looked like a drowned rat. His cousin had taken one look at the redhead and burst into hysterical laughter. Water was dripping from Axel's matted spikes and the shocked, frantic look on his best friend's face was priceless.

Even though he was slightly upset that he couldn't have woken up his best friend himself, Roxas decided that it was a good idea that he hadn't. Axel had sent a frighteningly angry look at his cousin, let out a strangled, spluttering yell and launched himself at Sora. His cousin had let out a scream and stumbled out of the room. Axel didn't even acknowledge Roxas or Kairi as he tore out of the room after the brunette, shouting loudly. With a large grin on his face, the blonde boy had followed them, filming. Kairi tiptoed behind him, still laughing.

They had found them in the kitchen and Roxas had very nearly burst out laughing. Axel had managed to grab his cousin in a head lock in one arm, using his other hand to grab onto Sora's nose. He was shouting insults at him and trying to keep the boy from knocking into cupboards and tables. Sora was struggling wildly, swinging around the empty water bottle and a random spatula. Roxas presumed that it came from the open drawer near the fridge. There had been several loud slaps and yells when the brunette began slapping away at his captor with the kitchen utensil. Axel twisted the brunette's nose slightly and Sora had let out a strangled yell before sucking in a large amount of air. The bottle clattered to the floor and immediately Sora's other hand had latched itself onto a piece of Axel's hair. The redhead had yelled in pain and released the boy, who fell to the floor still holding onto a fistful of red hair. Shouting in pain and surprise, Axel had staggered before falling onto Sora. There was a loud scream and a thud, before silence followed.

Roxas smirked and looked down at the bag at his feet. He had the whole thing on camera and planned to show it to everyone as soon as they got back home and maybe even post it onto the internet. Feeling lonely, he leant forward to look at the couple in front of him. Kairi was fast asleep, her head resting on Sora's shoulder. The blonde noted that she looked extremely peaceful when she was sleeping; that was a major change from her usual upbeat personality.

"She's so beautiful..." Roxas jumped slightly, turning to look at his cousin. Sora was gazing at his sleeping girlfriend with love and admiration. His voice was soft. "...Don't you think so Rox?"

"Uh..." The blonde was totally caught off guard. "...I-I suppose she is...isn't...ugly?"

"...Seriously, Rox...Is that honestly the best you can do?" The brunette hissed at him. _What was he meant to say? Sora and Kairi were his best friends and they were dating. It wasn't that Kairi wasn't pretty; it would just be totally awkward to say that to her boyfriend!_

"I don't know Sora! She's my best friend...I don't really think of her that way, like that, any time. She's one of the guys..." He whispered back, frankly not knowing what to say.

Sora was silent for a moment. "...Are you saying that Kairi is a guy?"

Roxas' eyes widened in shock and he looked at his cousin incredulously. _Was Sora really that stupid?_

The plane swayed slightly and the blonde sighed, resting his forehead on the back of Kairi's seat.

"Oh yeah, Kairi's hot." Both of the cousins turned to look at Axel with similar looks of disbelief. The redhead's eyes widened in confusion and he raised an eyebrow at them questioningly. "What? It's what you wanted to hear, right?"

"Not like that you jackass," Sora snapped quietly. Roxas rolled his eyes and groaned. They were always at each other's throats, but for some really strange reason they considered each other good friends. The logic of his best friend and his cousin baffled him. They could be snapping each other one minute, the best of friends the next. _Why did he have to hang around such weird people?_

"Sorry for saying anything." Axel muttered, leaning back in his seat and yawning widely.

"Sora," Roxas muttered from his position behind them. His cousin turned to look at him. "Why did you drag me along anyways?"

The brunette grinned suddenly, shifting slowly to face him while trying his best not to disturb the sleeping girl. "Because, well, we thought it would be more fun with you along."

"I don't even know her!"

"But you will. Namine is really easy to make friends with...well that's how it was about four years ago..." It was four years ago that Namine's family had left Twilight town and had moved to Radiant Garden. Their dad, a business man, had received a promotion and they all packed up and left. Sora always told him that Kairi had been devastated when her best friend had moved away, but they kept in contact through email and phone calls.

That was how this whole mess had started. Roxas had just started his shift at Chocobo Road, a local ice cream store, when Kairi had burst into the parlour, dragging his cousin behind her. He had thanked god that they weren't busy, because the girl had practically bounced up to the counter and demanded him to _"guess what!"_

He most certainly had not predicted that Namine asked her to visit for the holidays. He had been ever more surprised when Kairi pulled out the letter and handed it to him, pointing happily at the neat cursive writing.

_...I'd really like to meet your friends. _

_When I spoke to Dad about it, he actually went and bought four tickets for a package deal! They're only one way, so Demyx promised to catch the train back with you guys afterwards. Apparently Axel's invited Dem to stay with him for a while. It's so exciting! Make sure you bring Sora, definitely. One of the tickets is for Axel, Demyx 'requested' it. Of course one is for you, but then there's a spare. I don't care who you bring, just make sure that they're one of your closest friends!_

_..._

Roxas was actually astonished that she had chosen to invite him out of all her other friends. He didn't know much at all about Namine, except for the information that the picture told him; blonde with braces and glasses, big, blue eyes. He supposed that the girl in the photo was slightly pretty, but personally, he preferred brunettetes for some reason. But the picture left him curious, _why hadn't he been told more about her?_

"What is...well..._was. _What _was_ she like?" He asked his cousin, who sat idly in the uncomfortable plane chair, twirling a strand of Kairi's hair around his finger. Next to him, Axel shifted and leant forward to hear the conversation.

It was Sora who spoke, "She was quiet. She was always drawing and she had this quiet yet sweet smile. She was always helping people out. I remember, this one time when we were eleven, she spent a whole day cleaning one of the art rooms in school. And then this other time, she actually helped Seifer get through his parent's divorce, and that guy was _always_ picking on her. That's how nice she was."

Roxas was in awe. That was a brave thing to do. That girl must've been selfless. He hated Seifer, and the bully hated him. They were always glaring at each other, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Hayner's relationship with the bully. The two of them absolutely _loathed_ each other, purposely going out of their way to make each other's lives a living hell. Sometimes it was funny, but Hayner was ridiculously moody when Seifer had done something to him. But Roxas didn't have to worry about that anymore. After Hayner and Olette got together, the two boys had drifted apart. That was around the time that he met Axel.

Beside him, his best friend smirked at him. "She'd always been a cute little blonde. Dem was my best mate, and little Nam was always drawing and smiling." The redhead closed his eyes and leant his head back against his chair, the smirk still lingering on his face.

"You're not day dreaming about her are you?" Sora asked inquisitively, narrowing his eyes at Axel.

The man in question nodded smugly, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Giving his best friend a look that the redhead didn't notice, he pulled up his left sleeve. The digital watch on his wrist read 5.24am. They had about half an hour until the plane landed in Traverse Town. Kairi had told them that Namine's elder brother Demyx would be there to meet them and drive them to the Hollow Bastion district where their family lived.

Sighing, Roxas slumped down in his seat and looked out the window. The sun was coming up slowly, the clouds tinted in an array of pinks and oranges. There was no time difference between Twilight Town and Radiant Garden, so at this point in time he imagined that his sister, Alice, would either be sound asleep or awake, sculpting and sketching strange creatures like rabbits in waistcoats and creepy, grinning, purple cats.

He turned back to ask his best friend a question. He merely smirked when he found Axel eyeing one of the blonde flight attendants. His best friend had always had a soft spot for blondes; all of his previous relationships were either with human Barbie dolls or with complete bimbos.

The girl was currently oblivious to be watched. Dressed in a somewhat bland black and white Gummi Flights uniform, she was pushing the cart down the aisles with a bored expression. _Weren't flight attendants meant to smile?_

The smell of airline food filled the cabin, and Roxas suddenly felt like chicken...at 5.30 in the morning. "_That's really healthy for you Rox. Way to go." _Kairi always scolded him for eating non-breakfast food for breakfast. He didn't care though. Cereal tasted better as an afternoon snack or as dinner, instead of first thing in the morning.

He watched his best friend as the cart pulled up beside their pair of seats. The blonde girl sent them an uninterested look. "What would you like? We have cereal Stars or fruit salad."

Before Roxas could say anything or stop his friend from doing something stupid, Axel leant over and took the flight attendant's hand. "Are you on the menu, sexy?" Her eyes widened in surprise quickly, before she narrowed them at him. "If not, I'll have a coffee."

"I'm sorry sir," She snapped at him. "We don't fulfil people's sick, perverted fantasies here. This is an _airline_ not a brothel."

Roxas sighed and face palmed. This was bad. When they snapped, Axel was hooked. _Thank god they would be off this stupid plane within the hour._

Grinning, his best friend lifted the attendant's hand and gently kissed it. It may have seemed like a gentlemanly action, but Roxas knew better. "Enchanté..." Axel squinted at the blonde's badge, "Larxene. What a beautiful name..."

Larxene rolled her eyes and glared at the man. "Let go of my hand now you sick freak," She hissed at him. "Or I will shove your coffee up your ass."

"Sounds-"

Sora cut his best friend off, "I'd really, really love some cereal Stars please!" They all turned to look at him, and he just smiled at them in response. "What? I'm hungry." He looked over at his sleeping girlfriend then turned back to the attendant. "She'll have the fruit."

Sighing in relief, Roxas sat up straight in his chair. Sora had just extinguished a possible argument. Axel's flirty ways often got him in trouble and it was a bad idea to cause trouble while they were thousands of feet in the air.

In the seat in front of him, his cousin was whispering to his girlfriend. Kairi stirred slightly and Roxas took the opportunity to ask for the cereal and a hot chocolate. The attendant pulled out two trays of cereal and handed one to Sora and the other to the blonde boy, who had flipped down the table from the back of the seat in front of him. His cousin was also handed a tray of the fruit breakfast, which he put in front of the yawning redhead.

Beside him, Axel's ego had been chopped down slightly and he mumbled something about fruit. The attendant smirked and unceremoniously dumped the tray on his lap before pushing the cart forward to the next people. The redhead watched her go, mouth gaping.

Eyebrow raised, Roxas turned to his best friend. "What was that about?"

"I-I think I'm in love."

The blonde looked at his best friend in disbelief. "What?" He asked incredulously, but Axel didn't reply. He was too busy staring at the attendant as she walked further down the aisle. "Axel, snap out of it. You're half tired and you look like a gaping lion...fish...thing"

The redhead shut his mouth and turned abruptly to face Roxas, the fruit tray on his lap nearly tumbling to the floor. "Seriously Rox," He said, green eyes wide with wonder. "I'm being totally serious. She's hot _and_ feisty and no one has _ever _had a comeback to my flirts before..."

"I have." Roxas replied bluntly.

Axel brushed it off. "I meant no _female_. With you, I'm just messing around." It was true. Ever since they first met, the redhead would make a flirty reply to nearly everything Roxas did or said. But it wasn't just with him. Every single one of his friends had to suffer the same thing. Including Kairi, who shifted and turned to look over the back of her seat at Axel.

"I can give comebacks to your flirts, and as far as I'm concern, I _am _female."

"Yeah, but Kai, you're like one of the guys."

"My girlfriend is _not_ a guy!" Sora practically shouted from his seat.

"Fine, _fine..._cool your jets pipsqueak." Axel sighed and pulled down the table in front of him. Resting his tray on it, turned to look back at them all, "What I _meant_ was, no _female_," He expressed, pointedly directing the word at the couple in front of him. "That is blonde and _totally_ in my league has given me a comeback before."

"You know," Sora said from his seat, taking a mouthful of cereal. "If Roxas was a girl, you'd be totally head over heels for him." Roxas and Axel both looked at him with varying expressions of shock and disturbance. The brunette swallowed and cleared his throat. "Oh, Roxina, I'm totally in love with you because I cannot deny your smoking hotness, witty, sarcastic comebacks and your overall blondeness." The brunette's voice had dropped an octave to match the redhead's and he had put on a flirty expression.

Kairi giggled and Roxas felt his eye twitch slightly. He scooped a piece of cereal up and put it in his mouth, watching his cousin with interest.

The brunette cleared his throat again. This time, his voice came out high pitched and somewhat nasally, "Oh, Axey-baby. You really are pathetic aren't you? Just because you love those things about me, doesn't mean that you actually are in my league. Gosh." Sora rolled his eyes dramatically, and pretended to flip some hair off his shoulder.

"Sora," Axel said somewhat calmly. Roxas looked over to his best friend. He looked slightly unnerved to hear Sora pretending to be him. "That is one of the creepiest things that I have ever heard. And I have heard a shit-load of creepy things."

"Never, _ever_ do that again Sora...seriously." Roxas shuddered. His cousin had sounded so much like a girl; it wasn't funny, just entirely and completely freaky.

"Plus," Axel added from beside him. "I would totally be in Roxas' league. In fact, to be honest, I don't think that he'd be in _my _league." The blonde snapped his head over to look at his best friend. The redhead simply smirked and winked at him.

"What are you on about? You are such a pervert. When was the last time you _actually_ had a girlfriend?" Roxas snapped at him. It didn't seem to affect Axel, who leant closer to him.

"When have you _ever_ had a girlfriend?" In the seats in front of them, he could hear Sora and Kairi laughing at them.

Roxas' eye twitched. "At least I don't date sluts."

"Are you implying that _all _blue eyed blondes are sluts?"

"Yes..." The redhead smirked and Roxas' eyes widened. _ He was a blue eyed blonde! So was Namine, and judging by the picture, she wasn't even close to being a slut. _Suddenly feeling guilty, he backtracked. "No! I meant no! Not all blue eyed blondes are sluts!"

"Whatever you say..." Axel had that playful grin. He leant closer, and now the redhead's pointy face was invading his personal space. "...slut." He whispered the last part.

"Come any closer and I'll stab your eye out with my Spork, you overgrown hedgehog." Roxas hissed, holding up his plastic cutlery threateningly.

"Sure you will Rox, sure you will." Axel said playfully, leaning closer. The blonde leant back and pressed himself against the cabin wall. The redhead grinned at him and sent him a wink. "...slut."

It took approximately half a second for Roxas to stab his best friend's hand with his plastic Spork.

"SON OF A -" Letting out a stifled yell, Axel swiftly removed his hand from the arm rest and held it in front of his face. There were about three red indents in the skin, and the redhead prodded them slightly, wincing.

The blonde smiled in victory. In front of them, his cousin was laughing loudly. He turned to look at them and came face to face with the lens of the camera. _They had just caught the whole thing on tape. _

"Smile for the camera Rox." Sora grinned at him. Suddenly feeling childish, Roxas poked his tongue out at his cousin. Being the mature sixteen year olds that they were, Sora replied by blowing a raspberry at him.

He was just about to do the same, when something buzzed over the intercom system.

"Good morning passengers. This is your captain. It is currently 5.48am and we will be landing in Traverse Town in approximately nine minutes. Someone will be around to collect the trays of food shortly. We also ask you to please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for the descent. Thank you for flying with Gummi Airlines."

As soon as the announcement was over, Roxas noticed that Axel had bit his lip to refrain from cursing. Smirking, he buckled his belt and looked out the window. The sun had risen slightly more, and he could see the city below getting larger. Relaxing back into the seat he sighed.

Soon he would meet Namine, Kairi's legendary best friend and one of the nicest people that his cousin had ever met. He couldn't help but feel slightly excited and a little bit hopeful. _Maybe this trip wasn't going to be as bad as he thought._

* * *

**And there we go, :D**

**Hope you guys all enjoyed that, HOPEFULLY.**

**Review with what you think. Or don't. I really don't mind.**


	2. Staining Black

**HOWDY, here we go.**

**Dedicated to **_roxasXnamine-ftw _**and **_Omnomnomchomp _**because YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!**

**thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you are all amazing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Sonic the Hedgehog or Sesame Street or Ronald McDonald.**

* * *

Roxas walked off the plane with a slightly agitated expression and a very sore hand. As soon as they had touched down, his best friend had casually leant over and stabbed him in the back of his hand with the black pen he had been using to fill in one of the forms. There was now a fairly large black ink mark on his skin, which refused to wash off. It was only big because Axel had broken the pen during his attack. The blonde had made the mistake of thinking that their fight was over. _Well now, Axel, the war had only just begun._

At least the redhead had some kind of common sense though. Roxas frowned and glared at the ground. Once they had been allowed to get off the plane, Axel had practically sprinted into the airport, away from him. Roxas had also been left to carry his best friend's backpack and laptop bag, because the redhead was stupid enough to leave it behind. He had carried his friend's baggage _and _his own off the plane, and now that he was in the hall, following the overly cute and mushy Sora and Kairi, he couldn't see the redhead anywhere. If they weren't in a public place, and if Axel had been within his sight, he would've totally kicked his ass by now.

Sighing, he trudged along behind his cousin. Sora had his fingers linked through Kairi's and his arm was around her shoulder, resting slightly on her purple backpack. He was holding his in his other hand, and all together, he had to admit that they looked ridiculously loved-up. It was like, at this specific moment he didn't even exist. _This trip had better be bloody worth it._

They arrived at the baggage collection, and Roxas immediately went over to a chair, practically falling into it. He had a headache, his hand hurt and he was freaking tired. Placing the bags onto the seats next to him, the blonde slipped down further and massaged his temples. His cousin had gone to collect their luggage, taking with him a trolley. With a sweeping, clichéd, gentlemanly gesture, he had offered the empty seat to Kairi, who had giggled and sat down gracefully. Sometimes, he could not stand their fluffy, cute moments.

"_It's the marvels of love, Rox. You're probably just jealous that you're not getting any."_ Roxas scoffed at the memory. It wasn't that he was jealous or anything; because he wasn't. He honestly had better things to do with his time then prance around acting like a lovey-dovey loon for some girl. He knew that it would change someday, when he actually _found_ a girl, but _seriously? Who honestly believed in love at first sight?_ Kairi did, of course. He would've pinned it as a girl thing, but his cousin had proven him wrong.

Sora claimed that he had fallen completely, head over heels for Kairi as soon as she had waltzed into his eighth grade English class with a message for the teacher. Roxas had heard the exact same story about once a week, and he could recite it from memory. His cousin had perfected it down to an art form. The blonde groaned just thinking about it.

The closest thing he wanted to a relationship right now was a break from all the constant hassling. At home, he was asked out by girls regularly, because according to them he was one of those guys who_ "were too shy to make the first move."_ Not, he couldn't make the first move; it was because he didn't want to. None of them interested him _or_ made him feel tingly and fuzzy. He didn't have a crush or want to be with any of them, but they just couldn't comprehend that.

It was all too much drama. Sinking down further into his seat, he sighed. _Why did his friends want to set him up with a girl so badly?_ The people cruising past on the travelators didn't even glance at him, lounging across several seats like some lazy bum. Not that fancily dressed man in a business suit. Not the redhead with an ice cream. Not even the groups of girls who moved past, giggling like mad.

Roxas did a double take. _Redhead with an ice cream... _Narrowing his eyes, the blonde sat up straight and watched as his best friend practically glided past, eating an ice cream without a care in the world. _What the hell?_ _Here he was, minding several bags with a massive headache and a stained hand and he was just eating ice cream?_ As if on cue, Axel turned and looked over at him. His eyes widened in surprise, before narrowing playfully at him. Leaning on the barrier, his best friend grinned and mouthed something at him.

Roxas clenched his fists and glared at the taller man. _He was not in any way a slut!_ Not wanting to shout across the airport, Roxas through his pockets and pulled out his phone. Flipping it open, he punched in the number eight. Axel was eighth on his speed dial, not because he was the eighth important person in his life, but because his best friend had practically demanded it, proclaiming that the only way to honour his infinite awesomeness was to give him the infinite number. Pushing the call button, he glared across the room at his friend.

Axel jumped slightly, nearly dropping his ice cream, when his back pocket started vibrating and practically yelling Roxas' custom ringtone. From his seat Roxas smirked. Every time he rang, he succeeded in scaring the crap out of the redhead.

From the travelators, his best friend pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen, before breaking out into a mischievous grin that Roxas could see from at least ten metres away. The redhead turned to look back at him with that same grin, before answering the call. The blonde held his mobile to his ear and he could hear Axel clearly.

"Hey '_Roxina_'," His best friend drawled, a playful tone infiltrating his voice. "Are you looking for some fun?"

"If you ask me that _ever_ again, in that context, I am going to take your beloved laptop and throw it into the fountain outside the airport when we get home."

"Ouch. That hurt Rox. You totally know that Betty does not work well with water."

_Betty? _"Who is Betty?"

"The laptop," He replied calmly. Roxas saw his best friend step off the moving floor and onto the tiles. He leant casually against the barrier, eating, while watching Roxas.

"...What kind of freak names his laptop Betty?"

"The kind of freak that has ice cream at six in the morning, got it memorised?" Roxas could basically see his best friend smiling as he said it. There was something weird about Axel. There always had been. For some strange reason, the redhead took insults as a compliment and turned this around to praise himself.

"I know, I can-"

"Do you want to know what flavour it is?"

"...No I do no-"

Ignoring him, Axel continued, "Its sea salt, your favourite, mm-mm, _de_licious. Are you totally jealous?"

"Axel, I honestly _really_ couldn't care less right now,"

He saw his best friend take a bite out of the light blue ice cream. "Aw, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the extremely uncomfortable plane seat?" The redhead cooed to him over the phone. Roxas felt like ditching it at a wall, but took a deep breath instead.

He felt his eyebrow twitch slightly. "You look like the love child of a praying mantis and Sonic the hedgehog with really bad fashion sense." He said bluntly. Across the room, his friend stiffened and glanced down at the phone before looking back up at the blonde. Being truthful, his best friend didn't have a horrible fashion sense; he was actually quite skilled when it came to clothes. But Axel adamantly refused to mention his 'gift from god' to anyone, except when showing off or bragging.

"Now, _now_ Roxy," The redhead scolded playfully, tacking another bite out of the ice cream. There was a silence until he swallowed it. "Was that _really_ necessary?"

"Yes. And while we're at it, I suppose I should tell you that it looks like Elmo exploded onto the back of your head." He said bluntly.

The effect was instantaneous as Axel's mouth immediately fell open, the piece of ice cream that he'd been eating, falling out and onto the tiles. Whenever anyone dissed his best friend's hair, Axel would either react with panic, disbelief or anger.

Roxas presumed that it was a mix between all three, because he watched as his best friend hung up the phone and ditched the pop stick in the trash before strolling over with a weird expression. Smirking, Roxas slipped his mobile into his pocket. _He knew this was coming. _

His best friend stopped a few feet in front of him, looking stoic. Roxas winced, expecting to be punched somewhere, but when nothing came looked up at the redhead. Axel was looking at him with an incredulous expression, his hands touching his mess of hair lightly. "...what?" The blonde asked.

There was a moment of silence before Axel answered him, "Does it really look that bad Rox?"

Sighing, Roxas pushed up his sleeve and pulled a hair tie off his wrist. Handing it to the redhead in front of him, Axel immediately snatched it off him, hastily tying his hair into a pony tail. Emergency hair ties; he always had to have some on him because, knowing his best friend, something always happened to his hair when he least expected it.

In front of him, Axel had tied and untied his hair about three times, trying to get it perfect but failing. Pulling another one off his wrist, he stretched it back and let go, watching it go flying into his best friend's forehead.

"Ow!" He hissed, instantly forgetting his hair and clapping his hand to his forehead, wincing.

"Calm down, Mr. Drama Queen. You look normal."

"And by that he means you still look like a ridiculous clown." Both the boys turned and looked at Sora, who was about two metres away, pushing the trolley piled with baggage. He was grinning, blue eyes sparkling playfully. Behind him, Kairi was talking to someone on her purple flip phone. Axel was looked at the brunet with a gaping expression, before it dissolved into a playful, cocky look.

"You're just jealous, because I can change how I look." When Sora looked at Axel questioningly, the redhead smirked. "It looks like you've had a foot transplant with Ronald McDonald." All three of them looked down at Sora's feet, enclosed in yellow shoes. His cousin's feet weren't big; he just wore shoes that made them look big.

Recovering from the insult, the brunet suddenly smirked. "Well, you know what they say. Big feet, big-"

"No! I don't want to hear it!" Roxas clamped his hands over his ears. He had a headache, and did not want to put up with this. "My precious sanity, you're destroying it!"

Next to Sora, Kairi snapped her phone shut and smiled at them slightly. "Namine's running a bit late, so we have to hang around here for a bit."

"Alright..." Huffing, Roxas stood and grabbed his bag draping it over his shoulder. Turning to look at his cousin and best friend, he groaned. They were standing right next to each other, measuring feet. He rolled his eyes; they could seriously be immature sometimes. Walking towards the travelators, Roxas slapped Axel on the back of the head as he walked past.

"Ow!"

"C'mon genius, let's go. I'm hungry."

"More like bitchy. Does the slut need some morning coffee to postpone her PMS?"

Grumbling, Roxas kept walking. He was not bitchy, he was not a slut and he most certainly was _not_ PMS-ing. He just wanted a hot chocolate or something, to calm the nerves. Suddenly craving chocolate, he stepped onto the travelators, not caring if his friends were half the room behind him. He needed that hot chocolate _now_. If this Namine girl was half as loud as Kairi or anywhere near as annoying as Sora, he'd need at least three mugs of the rich, brown drink. For some reason, they always calmed him down.

Sighing at the thought, he leant against the barrier as the floor moved beneath him. Turning his head, Roxas could see his friends about fifty metres down at the end of the travelator. Kairi appeared to be texting someone, thumbs moving over the keypad rapidly, as she sat calmly on the top of the luggage trolley. Sora and Axel were having one of their usual, playful conversations, laughing and joking around. Occasionally, his cousin would look over at his girlfriend adoringly, but she didn't notice, because she was too absorbed in her phone.

This was the usual case. Roxas could obviously tell that they loved each other, but they hadn't said it yet. He had practically forced it out of Sora about a month ago, just after they had started going out. _"Fine, FINE...! Okay, Roxas? I'm only going to say this once to you, because...well, just because! I...I love her...I love Kairi, so much man...alright? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? Now get off me! I was halfway through the boss in Space Paranoids, when you freaking tackled me off the chair!" _Roxas nearly burst out laughing at the memory. He had only managed to get it out of his cousin because he had tackled him to the floor and pinned him until he gave him some answers. This was generally they traditional way that got information out of each other. It was technically the same way Sora found out that he liked Olette, because he had been tackled as soon as he walked into his house after his shift at work.

Looking over at his cousin, he bit his lip. He wasn't jealous of his cousin and Kairi. He was just...lonely. At least that's what he told himself it was. If anyone suggested it, he would scoff and walk away. Maybe it would be a good idea to start dating someone when they got back home...but no one that his friends set him up with, that would be a terrible, terrible idea.

At the end of the travelator Roxas stepped off and stood to one side, deep in thought. _He didn't want to try and date Selphie again, and he doubted that she'd even let him after the ice cream fiasco. Olette was still dating Hayner, so that was a no-go. There was also that one girl that hung with Seifer but she was creepy and didn't talk much._ That was about all the girls he could think of. He didn't really hang around with girls much, and all the ones that he saw walk into the store were taken, absolutely daft bimbos or slutty girls whose skirts wouldn't be able to reach halfway to their knees if they were stretched to the max. _Why did girls wear those anyway? They were only attractive to the percentage of the male population that wanted to get in their pants...like Axel. To everyone else, they just looked like prostitutes or girls who were totally up themselves or wanted some. _

"Earth to slut, come in slut, this is Earth calling." Blinking several times, Roxas shook his head and looked in front of him. Axel stood there smirking at him. "Welcome back blondie."

"Perfect until you arrived."

"Ouch, totally unnecessary of you, Rox," He grinned playfully. "I was just simply trying to _warn_ you that Sora is about to ingest coffee. Not a good idea if I do say so myself, and you should listen to me because I am technically the oldest, tallest _and _the coolest one out of all of us, got it memorised?" Still grinning, Axel tapped his temple knowingly, before turning around and heading towards the cafés after the happy, hand-holding couple.

Roxas grumbled and put his hands to his face. _He was totally not in the mood to put up with a hyper active, overdramatic Sora at_... he moved his left hand off his face and glanced down at his watch..._6.30 in the morning. _Sighing, Roxas shifted and followed his best friend quickly. _He was going to get there before Sora could order a coffee._

The last time his cousin had coffee, had been his first time. They had been staying up at Roxas' house, trying to finish their partner project the night before it was due. It had been about midnight, and they were both falling asleep, the project just about half done, when Sora had gotten up abruptly and walked into the kitchen. When he came back about five minutes later, the blond was sleeping out on the couch. His cousin had practically bounced over to and on top of him, shaking him awake and thrusting a mug of steaming coffee in his face.

They did not sleep once that night and had gone to school the next day, Roxas looking like some zombie and Sora virtually bouncing off the ceiling. It was worth it, because they actually passed their assignment, but Roxas vowed never to do it ever again. The coffee had given him a stomach ache and he hated the smell of it.

So when he ran into the coffee shop, past the table that Kairi was sitting at, he nearly gagged. Not breathing, he ran over to his cousin at the counter and physically dragged him back to the table, shoving the complaining brunet into the lounge seat between him and Kairi.

"Rox," Sora cried, looking at the blond with disbelief, "What the hell?"

"Sora," He said, looking seriously at his cousin, shut up and raised an eyebrow at him. "It's 6.30 in the morning, I have a headache and I have just had to carry Axel's freaking heavy bags from the plane to the baggage carousel because _someone,_" Roxas looked pointedly at his best friend who had sat down across from them at the table. When he heard his name, he just grinned sheepishly. Rolling his eyes, the blond continued, "conveniently left them in the compartments after _stabbing_ me in the hand with a pen. I am tired, I am _not _a slut nor am I PMS-ing and I cannot deal with you bouncing and jumping everywhere like freaking Tigger so, no, you cannot have _any_ coffee whatsoever!"

Everyone around the table was silent for a moment and they were looking at him with expressions of surprise and amusement.

Axel's chair scraped along the tiles as he stood. "Alrighty, I'm going to get drinks and such, Sora, as advised by your cousin, I'm getting you a milkshake." The brunet pouted at him. "Ah, no I'm immune to those puppy dog looks so you can totally forget it."

Sora muttered something along the lines of "then that means you're a cold hearted bastard," and crossed his arms.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to Kairi, "What do you want, chicken?" From beside him, Roxas heard Sora groan something about how his girlfriend wasn't a chicken before dropping his head down onto the table and staying there.

"Um," The auburn haired girl looked at the menu in front of her quickly as she reached over and rubbed circles on Sora's back. "I'll have a Passionfruit Iced Tea, extra sweetener please." Smiling briefly at Axel, she then turned her attention to her moping boyfriend beside her. She started whispering things to him and Roxas could hear his cousin groaning and mumbling in response.

"Alrighty...and for you," Axel asked him, before adding, "Roxina?"

Turning to look at his best friend, Roxas narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "I'd like a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. Don't forget those."

Smirking, Axel mock saluted him, "Roger that." The redhead sashayed up to the counter, eyes lighting up when he saw the blonde girl behind the counter. Roxas sighed and turned to look at the couple sitting next to him. Kairi was still whispering her boyfriend, who had not moved from his position. Taking it as an opportune moment to have for himself, the blond dug through his pocket and pulled out the picture of Namine.

She was stilling smiling back at him from behind her thick black glasses. Now that he looked closer at it, he could see a younger, smaller Seifer in the background, wearing his favourite beanie. It looked too big for him, but he wore it anyway, trying to look tough. Inexplicably, he was drawn back to looking at Namine's unique pale blue eyes. Even though it was just a photo, they seemed to be staring right into him. _What the hell?_

"Ah!" Roxas jumped suddenly, tightening his grip on the photo. Kairi was looking over her still pouting boyfriend at the picture in his hands. "Where did you get that from?"

"You lent it to me and never took it back." Looking at it one last time, he held it out for the girl to take back, but she just pushed it back at him.

"Keep it."

"But-"

"I've got at least two more of the same picture at home anyways." She replied, before scrunching her nose slightly. "Plus, I look terrible in the photo." Roxas looked down at the picture in his hand. Kairi looked completely fine, exactly the same as what she did now, except her hair was shorter in the photo.

Next to him, Sora turned his head to look at the photo. "I think you look adorable Kai-bear." He mumbled, still sounding slightly down. _Was he really that depressed about not getting coffee?_

Axel slid into the seat across from them somewhat gracefully, placing the plastic tray carefully in the middle of the table. He grabbed the chocolate milkshake and put it in front of Sora, who looked up at it sadly before sitting up straight. After a few sips, he was already looking better. _His cousin was certainly a strange one..._

"For you, chicken," Picking up the tall thin glass, he slid it over to Kairi.

"She's not a _chicken._" Sora managed to say between sips. Ignoring him, Axel grabbed his own steaming cup and put it in front of himself. Roxas reached out and grabbed the mug of hot chocolate.

The cream on the top was done so perfectly, he didn't want to even disturb it in anyway, but his craving got the best of him and he swiped a finger through it. The cream was so delicious; it was like some secret recipe, specially invented just to make it so much more wonderful and addictive than the regular super market brand.

Axel was watching him curiously. Roxas froze midway, a lump of cream on his finger. "What?"

"I wish had what you're having. It looks like you're in freaking heaven."

Suddenly put off by his comment, the blond wiped the remainder of the cream on the edge of his mug. "What'd you get?" He asked, before stirring his hot chocolate. He could smell the richness of it, and it took most of his concentration not to just go drinking it and scalding his entire mouth.

Still watching Roxas, the redhead brought the cup to his lips and took a sip before making a face. "Some kind of coffee; it's too strong though, blah." Despite his opinion, Axel took another sip, staring at Roxas' hand the whole time. When he brought the cup away from lips, the blond could see that he was smiling.

"What?"

"It looks like you've squashed a massive bug on the back of your hand." Roxas quickly looked down at his hand and narrowed his eyes when he remembered the massive black ink stain caused by his best friend.

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way." He remarked sarcastically. Beside him, Sora had just about drained the entire contents of his chocolate milkshake, slurping annoyingly while trying to get the little bits at the bottom of the glass.

Grumbling, Roxas took a sip of the hot chocolate, suddenly feeling calmer. If he was going to be sociable when meeting Namine, he probably had to finish this because Sora's slurping and Axel's teasing wasn't helping at all.

Kairi's phone beeped suddenly and she pushed the halfway full glass away from her, the iced tea sloshing slightly. She stood up grinning.

"Namine's here, waiting and ready to pick us up." Squealing slightly, she skipped around to the other side of the baggage trolley and looked at them expectantly. "C'mon! Let's go!" Sora complied immediately. _He is so whipped._

Axel and Roxas stayed sitting, quickly trying to finish their drinks. His cousin looked at Kairi's glass on the table. "Aren't you going to finish that Kai?"

"Nah, I'm not really thirsty anymore." Roxas wondered how she wasn't, when she was obviously jumping and bouncing excitedly. Suddenly getting an idea, the blond smirked. _He was feeling energetic, why not?_

"It's cool, I'll finish it." He said, shuffling over to where it sat at the table.

Across from him, his best friend raised an eyebrow at him."I thought you hated passionfruit, Rox."

"I do. I actually hate passion in general."

"They why-" Axel was cut off midsentence when the blond suddenly stood up and hit him in the face with the rest of the drink. Spluttering slightly, his best friend blinked a few times in disbelief.

Smirking with amusement and fear, Roxas stood up quickly, placing the glass back on the table. "That was for the pen stain, oh best friend of mine."

The blond watched Axel's eyebrow twitch before the redhead stood slowly, tea dripping down his forehead and onto the table. It was them that Roxas decided maybe he should've just surrendered and called the war over. But since he hadn't, he got the hell out of the café as fast as he could.

"Sora, Kairi, I'll meet you guys outside!" He called at them as he ran past them and through people. He knew he wasn't meant to run in airports, but this was a life or death situation. He didn't dare to look behind him when he heard his best friend start shouting.

_This war was not yet over, it was most likely very, very far from over, and he felt very, very sorry for whoever was dragged into it._

* * *

**And there we go, next chapter done. **

**Travelators are THE BOMB! just saying...**

**Review, whatever, just enjoy. :)**


	3. Lush Greens

**HELLO AGAIN. **

**Sorry this took me a bit to get up, but I have been totally obsessed with Starry Sky and tumblr for the past few days. I reckon you guys should go and play the english patched version of Starry Sky in Spring, because it is just SO CUTE. **

**Anyways, here is the next chapter, dedicated to **_Burai Stelar_ **who has just put up a new KH story which is awesome so far. xD**

**Also, all you magnificent people should go and vote in the poll on my profile. It'll tell me which ones you guys want updated, so I know! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Shrek. **

**ENJOY.**

**

* * *

**

He was pretty damn sure that he had lost Axel around the ridiculously over-priced jewellery store. Jogging towards a small section of couches, Roxas stopped and doubled over, panting. Slipping his backpack off his shoulder and onto the floor, he dug through it for a water bottle of some description. He never liked running during school, let alone at 7am in the morning through some foreign airport. Finding a bottle, he unscrewed the cap and took a sip, before looking around the small space.

There was what appeared to be a couple, sitting on a loveseat, whispering to each other. The brunette girl turned and suddenly met his eyes, the book on her lap nearly falling to the floor. Beside her, the princely looking man sent him a beastly look. Roxas quickly averted his eyes. _That man was frightening...like some snarling creature...like how his best friend had looked a few minutes ago..._

It had been a stupid thing to do, of course. He knew from experience that Axel absolutely despised water and all things similar, but _hey, his best friend had practically asked for it._ The first time Roxas had ever seen the redhead have a water-related meltdown, was when they were both younger. Seifer and Axel had had a minor disagreement which resulted in his best friend moping. Sighing, Roxas had bought sea salt ice cream for them both to cheer him up. On the way to the clock tower, however his plan failed when the bully and his cronies had ambushed them with water balloons.

Axel had looked completely and utterly irritated before snarling. Roxas honestly didn't know what happened, because by the time he had caught up to his best friend, Seifer's face was bleeding. It was how the bully had ended up with that scar across his face, but Roxas never actually found out how his best friend had done it. When he asked, Axel would grin like a maniac. He always knew his best friend was slightly insane.

Roxas smirked and laughed suddenly, causing the couple to give him weird looks. He shrugged bashfully, before bending down and shoving the bottle into the holster at the side before grabbing the loop on the top of his bag. He needed somewhere to sit and wait because, of course, Kairi or Sora would ring him, demanding for him to meet them somewhere. The lazy people they were, they would make _him_ walk all the distance while they waited somewhere doing absolutely nothing.

The only free spot in the room was occupied by the only other person in there. The petite blonde girl was sitting right at the end of the remaining couch, completely engrossed in the sketchpad on her lap. The pencil in his hand was skimming the page quickly and occasionally she would look up at the couple before her eyes would flick back to the pad. Her wispy hair was draw back into a messy ponytail and her white dress was spotless. As much as he didn't want to admit, Roxas thought she was really quite..._beautiful_.

Of all the girls he had ever seen and dated, she was one of the prettiest and although he preferred brunettes, he found this blonde girl intriguingly unique. Before he even considered trying to flirt with her, he stopped himself. A girl like her was obviously going to be taken and if not, he was not going to fall for some random girl who lived on the other side of the country.

Roxas sighed. He would rather sit next to her than the couple, who had now resorted to looking in opposite directions. Picking up his bag slightly, he walked over to the other side of the small couch. Stopping in front of the seat, he looked over at the blonde girl. She hadn't noticed him.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked politely. He waited for a response, but when he didn't get one, he shrugged to himself. She was obviously too busy with her art to care. As soon as he sat down, she stiffened and blinked suddenly. _Oh crap, he broke her flow and now she was going to get pissed at him!_

Wincing and cursing himself, Roxas turned to say something to her. But he was immediately dumbstruck over how blue her eyes were. She was looking at him with curiosity and slight annoyance, her eyes wide and focused. It was amazing how much emotion she could convey with a single look. _She really was intriguing._

"I'm sorry I interrupted you," He said apologetically. "I did ask before I sat down but you didn't hear me."

"Ah! Seriously...?" He nodded in reply. The annoyed look faded and Roxas watched as she turned red and redirected her gaze. _It was kind of cute actually..._ "I'm sorry! I don't often hear people when I'm drawing because I just get so...into it...y'know?" Her voice went quiet and the lead pencil in her hand twitched nervously.

"I get what you mean," Roxas replied, smiling at her. "It happens to me when I cook." He didn't know why, but he had always loved to cook and bake things. Maybe it was just the fun of it, the delicious food or the look on people's faces when they tried something of his. He had to admit, even though everyone thought he was a grumble bum, cooking made him happy because it made others happy.

The girl looked up at him again, her eyes studying his face, "Really?" She asked, watching intently for his reply.

"Yes, really," He replied, still smiling. "One time, I was making cookies and my cousin was trying to talk to me, but I wasn't listening. He threw about three eggs at me before I actually managed to look at him." It was true, Sora always happened to come over when he was baking and he could clearly remember the mess the kitchen had been in when Roxas had retaliated by throwing a handful of flour. It had taken him about three washes to completely remove any trace of egg from his hair, and another four hours to clean up the kitchen.

Next to him, the girl broke into a smile and laughed softly. "My brother threw a permanent marker at me once and I had this line across my cheek for a few days." He had to admit, that sounded pretty funny. Roxas smirked suddenly, getting an idea, but that would be for later. The girl bit her lip, hesitating before sliding the pencil behind her ear and looking at him curiously. "You're...not from around here...are you?"

"How did you know?" Roxas asked her, suddenly feeling self conscious. He didn't stick out that much...did he?

"Well...because you're talking to me..."

He didn't know what she was getting at. "...and?"

"And people... don't generally talk to me." She said softly, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The blond boy was obviously confused. _Why wouldn't people talk to her? She's been so nice, and I've just met her...she's also really pretty, so it's unbelievable..._

"Is there a reason why?"

She sighed. "Well that's just it. I don't know why they don't. I mean, yeah, I have a boyfriend but that doesn't mean I can't have guy friends...right?"

_He knew she was taken._ Roxas smiled at her. "...right. For me at home, it's the opposite. Girls talk to me because apparently I'm 'mysterious and shy', when really I just don't have any interest in being anything more than friends. Most of them are bimbos who just want hot boyfriends. I honestly have no interest in that." He envied her. He wished that girls didn't throw themselves at him. He couldn't go a week without some girl winking at or flirting with him. Was there a giant, flashing sign over his head that appealed to them? He sure hoped that there wasn't. He didn't need this, he just wanted a casual life and not to be the most popular guy around.

It was all Sora's fault. He used to be the main eye candy for nearly all of the girls in the town until he and Kairi started dating. And because they were related, all the love and drama and girls were suddenly handed over to him. When he asked Axel about it, all his best friend had to say was useless information. _"It's just your natural hotness Roxy-baby, but it will never compare to mine, got it memorized?" _That was coming from the guy who threw himself at nearly ever blonde female in the vicinity. Roxas pitied the girl next to him. If Axel ever saw her, nothing would stop him from flirting with her, not even a bulldozer.

"I'm jealous of you..." She mumbled. Roxas looked over at her in surprise. When she saw his expression, she elaborated. "I mean, I wish I could just freely talk to people whenever, but I'm kinda shy and for some reason, they don't talk to me."

He suddenly felt sorry for the girl, but didn't know what to do. The silence hung in the air for a few moments before she spoke up.

"So, what brings you to the _wonderful _Traverse Town Airport?" He could hear the sarcasm in her tone.

He debated about what he could possibly say to her; the fact that he was kidnapped and forced onto the flight by his cousin and his best friends, that he chose to come in exchange for a lifetime supply of sea salt ice cream or that he was here for a super secret spy mission that he could not tell anyone about. He sighed and settled for telling her the truth. "My friends dragged me along. We're actually heading to Radiant Garden from here."

She suddenly looked somewhat excited, "Ah, really?" He nodded slowly in response. "I live in Radiant Garden. It's really beautiful, you'll love it...I think..."

Roxas raised an eyebrow at her. "You think so?"

"...well, here..." Her small hand hesitated over the sketchpad and he couldn't help but notice how pale she was _...must be a Radiant Garden thing._ She quickly skimmed through the pages before stopping at one and flipping it around towards him. His eyes widened at the detail and he grasped the pad lightly, moving it in front of him.

The picture appeared to be a town square of some description, with shops and the signs perfectly symmetrical and even. The lines were smoothly and detailed, most likely done and touched up with a fine ink marker of some description. He could see the little details of bottles in windows, chimes hanging from balconies and over hanging shade cloths and the small cracks in the pavement. It appeared to have been brought to life with an array of different colours, blending into each other, creating shadows and highlights and dimensions. The picture left Roxas in awe. This girl in front of him was truly unique and had an amazing talent talent.

"This is the marketplace." She said confidently, before pointing to a grey bricked building. There was a small sign that hung from the alcove, a picture of a cake outlined in white. She smiled slightly, "Xaldin's pastry and bakery. It's a small little cake shop and café. Generally everyone hangs out here because the cakes are the best. If I see you around, I'll take you there sometime."

Roxas smiled to himself. This was the first girl he had met in a while that had not tried to flirt with him. Just thinking about the cakes suddenly made him start craving for one. He didn't realise that he was this hungry, just having eaten on the plane not even two hours ago. "That sounds nice."

The girl's fingers hooked under the corner of the picture and Roxas moved his thumbs as she flipped the page over. Picture after picture of Radiant Garden, he was completely amazed. This girl had a lot of time on her hands and an incredible talent. It seemed like she really, really loved the place. He could tell through her pictures and they way she described and spoke about it.

"...the gardens. The owner of the university takes really good care of them. My brother's friend works in the gardens alongside his university studies and I'm guessing that's why they look like that because he's wonderful with flowers and pla-"

"You're amazing."

Namine stopped talking abruptly and looked at him wide eyed. He knew she had heard him, because her face was slowly turning red. Despite this, she was watching him questioningly, her hands hovering over the picture of the lush green garden. "P-pardon...? I...I don't think I heard you right..."

"I said that you're amazing." Smiling, Roxas grabbed the sketchpad and showed her the picture. "This," He said, tapping the paper lightly. "You've got amazing talent and you're such a nice person and you're pretty too, so I'm honestly confused as to why people don't talk to you."

She was watching him, blushing furiously. Obviously she didn't have much experience with compliments. She opened her mouth to say something, before laughing nervously and directing her gaze down to her hands in her lap. After a few moments of silence, Roxas became slightly concerned. Lowering the pad back onto his lap, he bit his lip.

"...hey," He said, putting a hand softly onto her shoulder and leaning down to see her face, but to no avail. The loose pieces of hair were creating a kind of curtain between them. "...are you okay?"

"...you...you think that I'm pretty...?"

"...uh," Roxas hesitated. _That had slipped out...shit...what was he going to do now?_ Taking a deep breath, he smiled at her. "...yes. Yes, I do think that you're pretty."

"...no one's ever said that to me before...except Riku." When the boy gave her a puzzled look, she added, "He's my boyfriend..."

"Oh, well now you know that he's not the only one who thinks you're pretty."

"Y-yeah..." Smiling to herself, she looked away from Roxas briefly before turning to him again. "...E-even though we're probably going to see each other ever again, would you..."She trailed off and paused.

"...would I what?" He prompted, tilting his head slightly.

She caught his eye and smiled at him hopefully, "Do you want to be my friend?"

There was a moment of silence before Roxas laughed. He couldn't help it. She was so cute, with her big, blue eyes and it was such a childish question. Beside him, the girl looked crestfallen.

"O-oh... I'm sorry..."

"No, no, _I'm_ sorry. For laughing at you, I mean," He calmed himself and smiled at her. "Of course I'll be your friend. You didn't even have to ask."

Her face lit up, brightening into a smile. "...thank you." When she suddenly hugged him, Roxas stiffened slightly. It was only a quick hug, but it was enough to make him blush lightly and hesitate. He didn't know what to do. They hardly knew each other and here they were, hugging randomly in the middle of the airport. Roxas awkwardly hugged her back, but she suddenly pulled away and stuck out her hand. He blinked at it.

"I thought that I should do this formally, so..."

Behind her, someone cleared their throat and she jumped, startled. Roxas couldn't help but smile. Standing just behind her was a boy holding a Styrofoam cup in each hand. His silver hair was nearly as long as hers was, and it was also pulled back into a low ponytail. Taking a sip from the cup in his left hand, he watched Roxas with cautiously with narrowed green eyes.

The girl pulled her hand back and stood up next to him, taking the other cup. "Thanks 'Ku." Standing on her tiptoes, she pulled him down to her level and pecked him quickly on the lips. The boy whispered something in her ear, linking his free hand with hers, before turning to look at Roxas. Noticing the attention on him, the blond boy grabbed the sketch pad in one hand and his bag in the other before standing up.

"Who's this?" He nodded his head slightly. Beside him, the blonde girl turned and smiled the boy.

"This is my friend." She said, looking between the two males. "His name is...what is your name?"

She watched as Roxas shifted his bag onto his shoulder and the sketch pad to his other hand. "I'm Roxas."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise and she mouthed his name a few times. The boy beside her studied Roxas slightly.

"I'm Riku, her boyfriend." He sounded calm, but the blond boy couldn't help but feel as though he sounded unwelcoming. _Maybe he's just a bit possessive...or maybe slightly jealous... _"...and this is-"

"NAMINE...!"

Roxas could've sworn that he jumped at least four feet in the air _and_ suffered from temporary hearing loss. It was probably the same with Riku, who practically spilt his whole coffee over himself and the floor. The blonde however, looked over in the direction of the screech and squealed; shoving her coffee into her boyfriend's fumbling hands. She barely managed to turn around before she was tackled by an ecstatic Kairi.

They were caught up in a massive squealing, giggling hug, spinning and moving from foot to foot. Whenever he caught a glimpse of their faces, they were smiling like maniacs.

Suddenly remembering his cousin and best friend, Roxas turned and looked down the large hall. They appeared to be about ten metres away, Sora lugging the whole trolley of luggage by himself and Axel casually walking in front of him, his hair in awkward angles and his eyes narrowed mischievously at the blonde. _Oh crap...he was certainly screwed..._

Roxas didn't have much time to think, because soon his best friend was over at his side, one long arm draped over his shoulders.

"Ha...what's up Axel?" He asked sheepishly, taking a step away from the redhead. Basing the current situation on his previous experience, Roxas thought it would be best if he put the girl's pad somewhere safe for the time being. When his best friend took a step closer, he bit his lip in anticipation.

Axel took another step closer and immediately brought his arm around Roxas' neck in a headlock. "Oh, I dunno _Roxy-baby_. I was just admiring how much better your hair would look after a shave." The blond stiffened. _His hair..._ Even though Roxas wasn't totally into his hair, he had to admit that if it was even tampered with slightly, he'd have to change his whole style. He knew Axel was grinning when he brought his fist down onto the top of Roxas' head. "Do you know what happens next, slut?" The redhead didn't give him time to answer before he was rubbing his knuckles rapidly on the top of his head.

Wincing with every moment, Roxas made sure that Axel got what was coming to him. _But he did suppose that he maybe did deserve it...slightly..._ Struggling to get out of the headlock, the blond boy went by his instincts before delivering a well aimed kick to his best friend's shin.

Axel winced and the grip loosened slightly, "OUCH, ROXAS!" Taking advantage, the smaller of the two pulled out of it and shoved his best friend away. The redhead stumbled slightly and fell onto the couch, nursing his shin. "You kick like a sissy, you know that?" He remarked and soon, he was tending to two sore shins.

"Ugh, you guys SUCK." Behind them all, Sora had finally managed to make it over with the luggage. He was red in the face and puffing slightly as he leant against the handle bar. Apparently his cousin was stupid enough to forget that the baggage trolleys roller, because his weight put him off balance and sent him to the floor.

Roxas didn't have enough time to cover his mouth before he burst out laughing at the brunet. It appeared as though Riku had the same problem because he stopped wiping the coffee patches with a napkin and started to chuckle. _Maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad..._

Kairi paid no attention to her boyfriend on the floor as she wrapped an arm around the blonde beside her. "Alrighty, Nami. Time for the introductions." The auburn haired grinned and started with the man on the couch. "That over there is our idiot accomplice Axel. You might remember him from years and years ago when your brother used to hang around with him." She leant closer and whispered to her, loud enough for everyone to hear. "He was the dipshit who lit your brother's hair on fire."

"Hey!" Axel sat up abruptly. "He was practically _asking_ for it. Who the hell wears their hair like _that_?"

Rolling her eyes, Kairi looked over at the brunette on the floor. She gestured to him and he waved slightly, "The one and only Sora, who you should remember. He's my boyfriend and a complete idiot, but I like him anyways."

"Gee, thanks Kairi." Sora muttered from his position from the floor.

"And this," Ignoring her boyfriend, Kairi motioned to Roxas. "This is-"

"Roxas," The girl said confidently.

Beside her, the auburn girl turned to her in surprise. "You know him?"

The blonde girl smiled at him. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Alright then...guys!" Kairi said officially. From the corner of his eye, Roxas saw both Axel and Sora look up at their friend with slight interest. He supposed that maybe he should listen too. "This here is Namine, my super duper awesome best friend who I have known for_ever_. We'll be staying with her..." The sentence drifted off as Kairi caught sight of Riku, who was standing next to them calmly, studying them. "Oh, and this is Riku."

He didn't hear the last bit, because only the introduction of the blonde girl mattered. It all clicked and he honestly didn't know why he hadn't picked it up sooner. _Namine...this was Namine..._ Roxas suddenly felt his face heat up. _Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! He had just said all that to the girl he was about to spend the next two weeks with! _He couldn't believe it. _This was that nerdy looking girl with glasses and braces from the photo? This was her? The girl that he'd been talking to and complimenting not even ten minutes earlier was _the_ Namine? _

No one around him seemed to notice his mental panic. _He felt like such an idiot! He thought he was never going to ever see her again so it was perfectly alright just to compliment and make friends with a stranger, right? WRONG. He had to choose the one person that they had come to this bloody city for? He was such a tool...and if Axel ever found out what happened, he probably would never hear the end of it..._ He took several deep breaths and picked up the sketchpad off the couch. It still showed the picture of the lush green gardens. He wished he was allergic to the colour green, so he could just die right here on the spot. _Why was he such an idiot? Wasn't it normal for people to introduce themselves at the beginning of the conversation? If so, why did it never happen like that?This was all Axel's fault. If his best friend had never stabbed him and left him behind, it wouldn't have happened! It could also be Kairi's fault, for not finishing her tea. And it was also Sora's fault because...well, just because!_

Around him, they had continued talking. Kairi and Namine were involved in an enthusiastic conversation, both of them smiling brightly. From what he could see, the braces had really helped straighten up the blonde girl's teeth into pearly white, movie star smile. Riku and Axel were discussing something, watching as Sora continued to lie on the floor, breathing deeply.

"So," Axel said loudly, attracting everyone's attention. "Shall we get going? I really wanna get out of this place and take a freaking shower."

Namine smiled at him and Roxas watched as the silver haired boy wrinkled his nose slightly before leaning away from the redhead. "We can leave just as soon as my sister gets here. She was one of the flight attendants and we're taking her home too."

It seemed as though everything was happening right on time this morning. Namine looked over Kairi's shoulder before smiling at them all. "Here she comes now." Stepping around her best friend Namine met her sister halfway. The lady in the flight attendants uniform looked really familiar and Roxas looked over at his best friend, who had frozen in shock.

"...and, oh my god Nami, there was this total jackass pervert on the plane who tried using stupid pick up lines to get me." The attendant let out a cackle of laughter and continued. "He had this ridiculous red hair. He looked like some mutant cactus or something and then he had these tattoos under his eyes which made him look like a clown, HA. It was so hilar-" She stopped abruptly, eyes focused on Axel, "YOU!"

There was a loud, accusing shout from the lady before Axel heaved himself off the couch. The attendant dropped her luggage and stomped over, glaring the whole way. They stopped within feet of each other, the blonde lady glaring furiously at the redhead, who stood there casually, smirking flirtatiously at her.

"Back for more are we..." He said playfully, still smirking, before adding "..._Larxene_?"

"What are you doing here?" She hissed at him, clenching her fists slightly.

"Well, you see, we're those guests that you're having for a while; I suppose that we're going to be living together. Wanna share some of the floor space in your room? Or we could always just share a bed...your choice."

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"The name's Axel, got it memorized?"

Before anything else happened, Namine decided that this was the opportune moment to break up the impending fight.

"Ah...so it seems as though we all know each other. Let's go then, yeah?" She said nervously, standing between them. When nothing happened, she smiled anxiously. "Riku's driving...?"

Larxene blinked, "Oh hell no! I am _not_ letting him drive the minivan! Last time, we ended up in bloody Agrabah!" She straightened up and grabbed her luggage, before speed-walking down the hall towards the exit.

The silver haired boy sighed, walking over to Namine. "Must you use me as an excuse, every time?" When she shrugged innocently, he kissed the top of her head. "See you down at the car." Riku turned to look at Sora, who was still flopped on the floor. Rolling his eyes he walked over and grabbed the handle of the cart, manoeuvring it easily. "C'mon, let's go." He said, before turning and wheeling the baggage after Larxene.

Sora scrambled to his feet, suddenly filled with renewed energy. "I call shot-gun!" He yelled, sprinting to catch up with Riku. Roxas rolled his eyes. _Even though he was turning seventeen, his cousin was an over-grown kid._

In front of him, Kairi yawned and watched her boyfriend run off. "Maybe he'd give me some of his energy..." She was not expecting it when Axel picked her up and draped her over his shoulder. "Wait, Axel...what are you-"

"Let's go Kairi, I wanna see if I can beat the little shit." He smirked, before practically sprinting off after them.

"...Wait, wait, WAIT! AH! AXEL, STOP!" She yelled, bouncing up and down on his bony shoulder as he ran. "PUT ME DOWN, SHREK!" Roxas burst out laughing. The look on the girl's face was priceless as his best friend bounded after his cousin and her use of the movie quote just added to the hilarity.

Near him, he heard Namine giggle. The laughter made him suddenly remember how much of a fool he had been earlier. She was watching her best friend with an amused expression, one hand on her mouth as she laughed. Still smiling, she turned to him.

"Let's get going, otherwise we'll get stuck with the worst seats." When he nodded, she started walking after them. He was about to go with her, when he remembered putting the sketchpad on the couch. When he looked over and realised that it wasn't there, he panicked before noticing that it was in his hand.

He really did feel like such an idiot, normally he never lost his cool or did anything like this around anyone! So why was he doing it now? Shrugging it off, he took one last look at the lush green picture before flipping the pad closed and jogging after her. Hopefully, he hadn't ruined his chances of being her friend, because he really hoped that this would work.

* * *

**So there you have it. :) The next chapter.**

**I'll try and get another one up before school goes back next thursday, but no promises!**

**I HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING IT SO FAR.**

**Review, whatever you want. :)**

**ps, Would someone like to be my betareader? I honestly think that I may need one. But remember, you gotta be registered as one okay? :) Also, I'm also betareading, so SURE, I'LL BE YOURS IF YOU WANT. JUST ASK!**


End file.
